Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi as an Aerobic Exercise

There are many benefits in practicing Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi. Besides the obvious benefits, like the balance of Yin and Yang, increase overall qi level, clear blockages in the meridians, … etc., practicing Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi also has the benefits of aerobic exercise.

Aerobic exercise refers to exercise that involves or improves oxygen consumption by the body. Its benefits are widely known. For low intensity aerobic exercise (50%-65% of your maximum heart rate*), it can improve overall fitness, reduce stress, decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol.

Slightly higher intensity aerobic exercise, (65%-80% of your maximum heart rate) is ideal for training your cardiovascular system and developing local muscle strength and increase stamina. Blood supply is increased through the new growth of blood vessels to the affected area. This provides more nutrients to the working muscles and helps take metabolic wastes from the muscles. With the increase in blood volume the cardiac muscle becomes larger, increasing the amount of blood pumped per heart beat. This means a lower heart rate at rest and more efficient recovery.

* Your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) = 220 – Your Age

Our research has found that when performing the 1^st Set Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi, the heart rate generally fall into the 50% to 70% range of your MHR, some call this range ‘The Healthy Heart Zone’ which is very good for weight control, decrease blood pressure and cholesterol.

When performing the 2^nd Set Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi, the heart rate generally fall into the 60% to 80% range of your MHR, some call this range ‘The Endurance Zone’. In this zone of exercise, intensity can be used to build your heart/lung capacity, stamina and endurance.

Imaginary Resistance

When performing the movements of the 2^nd Tai chi Qigong Shibashi Set, you should adopt a lower stance than the 1^st Set if you wish to further increase your strength and stamina. Moreover, you can imagine you are performing the whole set in water, so you should feel some resistance when you move. Once you are comfortable performing the whole set in imaginary water, you can then imagine you are performing in mud or honey to further increase the imaginary resistance.

The most important point to remember when practicing with imaginary resistance is DO NOT TENSE UP YOUR MUSCLES, they should still be relaxed all the time. Just use your mind to imagine the resistance. That is because the qi will have a difficult time moving when you tense up your muscles.

It is recommended to use imaginary resistance with the 2^nd Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi set only. It is because relaxation is the main focus of the 1^st Set Shibashi. Furthermore, only apply the imaginary resistance once you are able to perform the entire 2^nd set smoothly.

By practicing this way, not only you can build up more strength and stamina, it is very good in training your mind power as well. It also prepares you well for the meditative qigong that I will introduce in the near future, since some meditative qigong involves quite a lot of visualization.

Practicing tai chi qigong Shibashi with resistance will not help you build up bulky muscles. However, after a few months of practice, you will find yourself become much stronger. The strength you develop is called neijing (internal energy/power) which is quite different from muscular force. Sometimes you see those skinny internal kung fu masters push off big guys easily. It is the neijing that enable them to do so, not muscular force.

The 2nd Set Shibashi video (free version) is available at https://youtu.be/NOENwWg3e2M 
The 2nd Set Shibashi Home Study Course is available at www.taichi18.com/online-video-course/shibashi2